Coffee
by SaveTheWorldOnHappyTheDragon
Summary: A chance meeting at Starbucks turns into a romance neither of them could have anticipated. Based off of the prompt "I was sitting at Starbucks when you came in and I think you have a cat in your pocket sir and I am intrigued." From Tumblr. NaLu
1. Chapter 1

Lucy cautiously sipped her Starbucks as she idly scrolled down her dead Tumblr dash. The drink burned her tongue, but she didn't notice, too involved in her phone...

Until someone sat down loudly at the table next to her. She jumped and looked up, startled. She found the source of the noise, and began staring.

'Damn, he's _hot_.' She thought as she stared at him. He had light pink, spiky hair that fell in his eyes at the perfect angle, and muscles galare. Lucy gave him a once-over and stopped at his cheek.

He had a long diagonal scar on his left cheek. It looked fresh, judging by the blood oozing out of it. Lucy winced. 'Where did that come from?' She wondered.

She looked down, blushing. 'Calm down, Lucy...' She told herself. 'You've seen hot guys with scars before, this is nothing new...'

It was true, of course. Her business partner, Loke, had scars. He showed them to her at every possible time. He claimed that they were from sneaking into heavily armed buildings and stuff like that. Levy, her best friend, claimed that the scars were from when he was a kid, and he accidentally shot himself with a BB gun. Repeatedly.

Lucy looked up again. Had she imagined it? No, there it was again. A faint, but still audible, meow. Coming from where the hot guy was sitting.

The man looked at his pocket worriedly, and shushed it. Lucy crossed her arms. 'Does he have a cat in his pocket?' She wondered silently. She took another tentative sip of her coffee as she stared at the stranger over her phone. Something about him piqued her interest...

She heard another meow intermingled with the sound of a phone ringing. The man grabbed a phone with a firey case out of his pocket and glared at it before answering.

"Gray, I can't talk right now." He said into the phone, looking around. His eyes rested on Lucy a moment longer than they rested on everyone else, and Lucy looked down, suddenly very interested in her shoes.

"I..." The man lowered his voice to whisper, and Lucy had to crane her neck to hear the rest. "On it's own. I couldn't just leave it." He whispered. Lucy could hear the person he was talking to yelling, and the man rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever frosty." He said in annoyance. "I'm at Starbucks right now." He said. "Later."

Lucy heard another meow, this one more urgent than the last few. The man looked at his pocket, then at the rest of the cafe, then back at his pocket.

He slipped his hand inside, and then brought it out with a scream. A blue blur, faster than Lucy could have ever thought a cat could go, rushed out of the pocket, down the man's leg, and towards the door.

Making a split second decision, Lucy dodged around the men who were going to see if the other guy was OK, and raced the cat to the door. She won, and scooped up the cat.

She looked down at the cat in her hands. She had never heard of a blue cat before, but the thing was adorable so she didn't care. It yawned and snuggled her hands, and she smiled.

"Hey, you caught Happy!" She whirled around at his voice, and found herself face-to-face with the stranger. She was close enough to see every detail of his face, from his sharp teeth to his dark eyes. She blushed and backed into the door.

"U-u-u-u-uhm..." She stuttered. She held out the cat. "Here!"

"Thanks!" The man grinned. Lucy felt her heart melt. "I'm Natsu, by the way.

"L-Lucy..." She muttered, trying not to blush. She failed. Natsu grinned again.

"Well, thanks, Luigi!" He said kindly. Lucy looked at him angrily.

"It's Lucy!" She yelled. The man shook his head.

"Whatever, Laura." He teased. Lucy hit him.

"LUCY!" She yelled. The man smiled at her.

"Fine... Lucy." He took the cat out of her hands. "Thanks!" He grinned again. Lucy felt her knees weaken.

"N-No problem..." She muttered. "Um... Why is he blue?" She asked. He shrugged.

"I dunno. I found him like this. He's probably painted or something." He grabbed a napkin off of a nearby table and began wiping the cat. The blue stuff didn't come off. "Or not... Eh, whatever, a blue cat is better anyway, right!" He smirked. "This'll knock the socks off of Gajeel and his black cat... He thought his cat was exotic because it had a scar over its eye." He explained. Lucy didn't know who Gajeel was, but she nodded anyway.

"OK..." She muttered.

"Hey! No pets are allowed in here!" A man yelled. Natsu yelped.

"Run!" He yelled. Before Lucy knew what was happening, she was running alongside him.

They stopped after they ran around a wall, and hid on the other side. "Why are we hiding from Starbucks?" She asked. "They're not a real threat."

"Yeah, but I don't wanna get banned." He said, barely even panting. "I love Starbucks!"

Lucy rolled her eyes. "I doubt they'd ban you..." She panted. "You seem like their best customer."  
"Why do you say that?" He asked. Lucy sighed.

"You seem like you've been drinking coffee all day..." He grinned again.

"Nah, I'm just naturally crazy." He said calmly. Lucy laughed.

"Naturally crazy?" She asked. He nodded, still grinning that infatuating grin.

"According to Gray," He said. "I am the most crazy and irresponsible person on the face of this plant and possibly other planets and maybe even other dimensions." He rambled.

"Gray is right." She muttered. Natsu crossed his arms.

"Is not. Gray's an idiot." He pouted. Lucy laughed.

"I'm sure he is..." She said. Her phone began beeping, and she looked down. Levi had texted her.

"Where are you, Lu? The game's gonna start!" She read out loud. Then she gasped. "Oh no! I forgot!" She yelped, trying to run away but ending up tripping over Natsu's sandals. Natsu grabbed her arm before she fell.

"Woah!" He yelled. "Late for what?" Lucy frantically began typing a response to Levi.

"Me and some of my friends are watching a soccer game tonight." She explained quickly, turning off her phone. "Damnit! I walked her, there's no way I'll get back home in time to get ready..."  
"I'll drive you." Natsu said without any hesitation. Lucy looked up at him.

"Really?"

"Yeah, sure. My car's parked out in front of Starbucks." He said. "Come on!" He held out a hand to her.

"Yeah!" She answered back, smiling like an idiot.


	2. Chapter 2

The car pulled up outside of Lucy's house, and she jumped out quickly. "Thanks, Natsu!" She yelled gratefully as she ran to the door.

Natsu got out quickly. "Wait!" He yelled. Lucy turned.

"Yeah?" Natsu pulled a napkin out of his pocket and scribbled something on it. "In case you need my help again, Luigi." He handed her the napkin. A messy phone number was scrawled on it.

Lucy blushed. "O-OK... Thanks again, Natsu!" She said, running towards her door. Natsu waved.

"See ya, Lucy!" He yelled as Lucy closed the door.

Once inside the safety of her house, Lucy slumped against the door, her face burning. The napkin in her hand seemed to glow.

She shook herself. "Calm down, Lucy." She told herself sternly, shoving the napkin into her purse. "It doesn't mean anything." She quickly ran upstairs to change into something more casual than her work clothes, grabbed her trademark purple foam finger, and ran back downstairs.

She raced out of the door, noticing the setting sun that indicated her lateness. She cursed. "I'm so gonna get an earful when I get there..." She groaned.

She climbed in her car and drove to the field quickly. She spotted Levy's silver sports car and parked next to it, then ran inside the stadium.

"Lu! Where have you been?" A yell made Lucy turn around and spot Levy, sitting there with her friends Jet and Droy. Lucy slumped down into a seat next to her and sighed.

"I've been catching stray cats..." She muttered. Levy blinked.

"What?"

"Nevermind. How late am I?" She asked. Levy crossed her arms.

"A half hour late. The game's about to begin and you barely made it!" Levy's angry face melted into a smiling one. "At least you made it. I was getting worried." She said, relieved. Lucy smiled back at her.

"Yeah, sorry... I was at Starbucks for a quick drink and then... Well, a lot happened. Did you know there are blue cats?" She asked. Levy sighed.

"I'm not even gonna ask..." She rolled her eyes.

"Levy! The game's starting!" Jet yelled. Levy and Lucy both grinned.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! I give you, the cooooooolest soccer team ever!" Jason, the reporter from Soccer weekly and the announcer for most of the local games, yelled eagerly. "The Fire Dragons! With their captain, Igneel!"

The team ran onto the field, decked out in matching purple outfits, and led by the red-headed team capitan. Lucy cheered, but stopped abruptly when she saw the screen that showed a closeup of the team.

"N-Natsu?" She faltered. Levy looked at her.

"What's wrong, Lu?" She asked. Lucy shook her head.

"I'll tell you later." She waved Levy off, trying to will the camera to get a closer view of Natsu. It was definitely him. The mop of unruly pink hair on his head made her certain of that.

"Don't screw up, Natsu!" A loud yell echoed around the south half of the stadium. Lucy jumped and looked behind her, where the yell had come from.

A man with inky black hair and no shirt stood on top of his chair, screaming. Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Sit down!" A gruff voice yelled. Behind the man who was standing on his chair, another man with long black hair('Gajeel is here?' Lucy thought) sat with a blue haired woman. He was glaring at the standing man.

Lucy sighed and looked back at the game. Natsu was standing in the middle of a group of other players.

"Now, for the coooooooool enemy team, Tartarus! And their capitan, Mard Geer!" Jason screamed. The other team walked onto the field, wearing grey uniforms. Mard Geer, the creepy, calculating captain stood in the front. Lucy and Levy hissed and booed them.

The referee walked onto the field, explained the rules, and then...

"That game was awesome!" Levy cried. Jet and Droy nodded vigorously.

"I can't believe Tartarus is so good, though. They'll have to watch out for them." Lucy added. Levy grinned.

"No way! The Fire Dragons are the best!" A voice said right next to Lucy. She screamed and struck out at it, and ended up hitting something soft.

She opened her eyes and found her hand in Natsu's hair. She blushed. "Er... Um... Sorry..." She mumbled. Natsu grinned.

"Nah, it's fine. I did scare you, after all." He admitted. "Am I scary, Luigi?" He teased. Lucy glared.

"You are not! I just... Got startled, not scared." She crossed her arms. Natsu laughed.

"Nah, you're totally scared of me." He chuckled. Levy tapped on Lucy's arm.

"Lu... How did you become friends with the best member of the Fire Dragons?" Levy asked, staring in awe at Natsu. Natsu rubbed the back of his neck.

"I am the best, aren't I?" He said cockily. Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Don't get so cocky." She snapped. "I met him at Starbucks earlier. I knew you looked familiar. Why didn't you tell me?" She turned on Natsu. Natsu shrugged.

"It didn't turn up? I don't know. We were sort of in the middle of trying to run from security." He stuck his tongue out at her. "And then someone was in a hurry."

"I was no-Oh, wait, maybe I was, but still! You could have at least mentioned it..."  
"But I'm the best player, so I thought you'd recognize me." He feigned hurt. "It hurt when you didn't notice me, Luigi-Senpai." He pouted. Lucy growled.

"It's Lucy!" She bit. Levy laughed nervously.

"Um... I'm gonna give you guys a little privacy..." She walked away. Lucy waved her arms frantically.

"Wait! Levy, don't leave me with this weirdo!" She cried. Natsu snickered devilishly.

"Weirdo? Oh, I'll show you weird." He grinned evilly. Lucy began backing up.

"Uhm..." She tried to speak.

She was saved by the raven haired shirtless man from earlier. "Hey, flame brain!" He yelled, walking over to them. Natsu narrowed his eyes.

"Sup, ice-breath?" He asked. The man looked at Lucy.

"Who's this?" He asked. Lucy let out a breath.

"I-I'm Lucy..." She managed to mutter. What was with the influx of hot guys in her life all of a sudden?

The man was still shirtless. He had the symbol of the Fire Dragon's on his chest, either painted or tattooed. He held out a hand, and it took Lucy a second to stop staring at his bare chest and take his hand.

"I'm Gray. Nice to meet you, although I don't know why you'd be around this idiot." He pointed at Natsu. Lucy laughed.

"Hey! I'm not an idiot!" Natsu yelled, pouting. "You're the idiot!" Gray growled.

"Take that back, flame-for-brains!"

"No freakin' way, frosty! Bring it!" The two began quarelling. Lucy sighed.

"Well... I'm just gonna go and..." She backed away from them slowly. "Uhm... Talk to Levy! Bye!" She ran off. The two men kept fighting.

"Levy! How could you leave me?" Lucy cried, flinging herself into the arms of her best friend. Levy hugged her.

"I'm sorry, Lu! I didn't know he'd be so weird up close!" She cried. Jet and Droy stared at them from a distance.

"He wasn't as weird earlier!" Lucy pulled away from Levy. Levy smirked.

"Aw, you two are obviously made for one another!" Levy teased. Lucy crossed her arms.

"What about you and Gajeel? You always seem to drive past the repair place whenever you know he's working there..." Lucy teased right back. "Did you see him here? I didn't know he liked soccer."  
"Oh, Gajeel's only here for the Saturday games, usually. He roots for the Metalicana's." Levy said immediately. Then she covered her mouth. "Not that I'd know that..." Lucy grinned.

"See? You loooove him!" She teased. Levy blushed and began playfully hitting Lucy.

"Aaaaah!" Two screams caught the girls' attention. They looked at the source...

Gray and Natsu, who had been yelling names at each other and occasionally punching at each other, were now hugging. A scary woman with scarlet hair stood over them.

The woman was Erza Scarlet, the leader of the Fairy Tail dojo down the street. Lucy had never been there, but she knew Natsu and Gray trained there. It was a dream of hers to join, but she'd always been too scared of Erza.

"You two are disrupting the post-game fun." Erza said angrily. "Don't make me punish you."

"A-Aye sir!" The two men squeaked like kids, and ran off. Erza turned her attention on the two girls watching.

Lucy and Levy turned on their heels and looked away, scared of the woman with the scary glint in her eyes.

"Jeez, she's creepy." Levy shuddered. Lucy nodded.

"I had a nightmare about her once... I woke up screaming..." She trembled. Levy's watch began to beep.

"Oh... I have to go, Lu. I have a meeting tomorrow." She said. Lucy nodded.

"Alright. See ya later, Levy!" She waved at her friend's retreating figure. Then she sighed.

"I'd better get home too." She said to herself. She began walking back to her car, and busied herself with pulling her keys from her crowded purse.

She extracted them and looked up... At Natsu. He was leaning on her car, arms crossed smugly and a leather jacket with fire accents covering his uniform. She jumped. "What are you doing on my car? How did you even know it was my car?" She yelled. Natsu laughed.

"Relax, Lucy. I saw your car earlier when I drove ya home." He said, pushing himself off of the car's door. Lucy crossed her arms.

"Well, go away. I need to go home." She said, trying to get around him. Natsu laughed.

"Wow, real nice, Luigi." He laughed but moved anyway. He walked around to the back of the car. "Woah, you have a Luigi sticker on here? You seriously play Mario? Haha, how ironic..." He laughed. Lucy growled.

"Can you get out from behind my car? I don't think your team would like it if I ran you over." She yelled. Natsu walked back towards her door.

"So... Anyway, all joking aside... Are you gonna be at the next game?" He asked. Lucy sighed.

"Yes, but don't think it's for you. Me and Levy come to all the games." She said, starting the car. Natsu smiled.

"Well... I was wondering... That is, if you want to... Would you like to go out for coffee afterwards?" He asked. Lucy froze. Her face began burning again.

"C-Coffee?" She asked. Natsu nodded.

"Yeah... I mean, if you don't want to that's fine, but..." Lucy nodded.

"That'd be nice... Pick me up at eight?" She looked at him. Natsu grinned.

"Alright!" He said. "See ya, Luigi!" He yelled as she started her car. Lucy growled.

"It's LUCY!" She yelled as she drove off. Natsu laughed.

"Whatever..."


	3. Chapter 3

The next soccer game was a few weeks after that. The Fire Dragons VS The Siren Scales. The handsome captain of the Siren Scales, Lyon Vastia, stood confidentally as he shook Igneel's hand.

The game was quick. The Siren Scales, having been in the game seven years earlier than the Fire Dragons, had much more experience and therefore dominated the Fire Dragons, winning 20 to 5.

After the game, Lucy wasted no time in saying goodbye to Levy and her friends and walking home. The game had ended at roughly 7:30ish, but the clock seemed to crawl towards 8. 'Not that I'm anticipating it or anything!' Lucy told herself as she waited by the door in her brand new jeans and designer top. 'Not that I spent any money on looking good tonight' She silently convinced herself.

At 8 exactly, a loud roar filled her ears. She ran to the window and looked outside.

A motorcycle pulled into her driveway. It was inky black with flame accents, and a man in a matching helmet and leather jacket sat on top.

The roar quieted down until it was gone, and the man pulled the helmet from his head and stood up. Pink hair fell in his eyes, shadowing his face and giving him a mysterious look.

Lucy's heart was beating too fast. Way too fast. She closed her eyes and turned away. 'Calm down, Lucy! It's just a meeting between... Aquantances...' She told herself, taking deep breaths.

The doorbell rang, and Lucy steadied herself. She opened the door and smiled, but her knees became weak when she saw him.

The light that the streetlamp was casting made it seem like he was glowing. His leather jacket and rumpled hair made him look edgy. Lucy blushed. "H-H-Hi..." She stuttered.

Natsu grinned. Lucy's breath caught. 'That's it. That grin is gonna kill me.' She thought. "Hey, Lucy! Ready to go?" He asked, gesturing outside. She took a deep breath and stepped outside, clutching her purse.

"Let's go!" She said, trying not to blush. He led her to the motorcycle, but she shook her head. "I can't ride that." She said.

Natsu frowned. "Why not?" He asked. He picked up an extra helmet. "I brought a helmet for ya!"

"I've never ridden a motorcycle before." She admitted. "And I don't plan on starting now." Natsu shook his head and laughed.

"Aw, c'mon Luigi! It's not hard or anything, just hold onto me!" He grabbed her hand and pulled her onto the bike.

She pulled on the helmet carefully. "Now what do I hold onTOOO!" The bike shot off right after she sat down. She clung to Natsu's torso as the wind whipped around her.

The view from inside the helmet was distorted, but clear enough to see that they were going _way_ too fast for Lucy's taste.

"Slow down!" She yelled, her voice lost in the wind. Natsu laughed, and the bike stopped suddenly when they reached Starbucks.

Lucy jumped off of the motorcycle and eyed it wearily as if it would shoot off again. She yanked the helmet off of her head.

"That was fun, wasn't it?" Natsu asked, grinning that insanely hot grin of his. Lucy looked at him like he was insane.

" _FUN?_ I think I nearly _died_ on that stupid thing!" She yelled. Natsu laughed.

"No you didn't. I was there the whole time, I wouldn't have let you die." He said, somehow sounding casual and making Lucy's heart pound at the same time. "C'mon, don't be such a killjoy. Let's go inside." He offered.

Lucy nodded. She said something like, "Uh-huh." And followed him inside.

"You go get a table, I'll order. What do you want?" He asked, opening the door for her. She shrugged.

"Get me whatever, as long as it doesn't have any pumpkin in it." She said. Natsu sighed.

"No pumpkin? The pumpkin is the best part!" He whined like a little kid. Lucy rolled her eyes, but she was smiling.

"No way! I can't stand it..." She laughed. "You can get some, but I don't want any of it!"

"Fine, fine...Can we get some cake?" He asked. Lucy sighed.

"You're like a three year old... Fine, get some cake. But get me the chocolate!" She ordered, walking towards the tables. Natsu gave her a thumbs up.

"Aye, sir!" He yelled as he walked towards the cashier. Lucy sighed and found a nice corner table near the window. She sat down and put her bag on the table.

A few minutes later, Natsu sat down next to her, holding two cups of coffee and four plates. Huge slices of cake filled each one.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "What did you not get about two cakes?" She asked, although the two slices of thick chocolate cake made her mouth water. Natsu shrugged.

"You actually never said anything about the amount of cakes allowed." He pointed out, sipping his coffee. A mustache of whipped cream was left behind when he put his cup down, and Lucy giggled, motioning at his lip. He wiped it off.

"So how's the cat doing?" She asked. Natsu smiled.

"It's Happy. And he's doing awesome! I went and adopted him so now he's mine!" He grinned. "Although he seems to like Wendy's cat more than me..."

Lucy smiled. "Who's Wendy?" She asked. Natsu grinned.

"Aw, she's this kid who lives in the apartment next to mine. She's a huge fan of my team, and she has this little white cat that Happy seems to love." He explained. Lucy nodded.

"Aw, cat love!" She grinned. "That sounds adorable!" She took a bite of the cake, and sighed when the chocolate cream inside shot out. "This is awesome..." She moaned, washing it down with a sip of her coffee.

"See? I told you, the cakes here are awesome. It's impossible to not get more than one." Natsu smiled. "I'm just so generous, aren't I?" He asked. Lucy choked.

"Don't get so cocky, catman." She teased. Natsu frowned.

"Catman? Naw, that's not my thing. I do like cats, though... How about Dragon-man?" He offered, putting his hands on his hips. Lucy laughed.

"More like lizard-man. If you're a dragon then I'm


	4. Chapter 4

A/N- Hi! Um, so I know that the last chapter ended weirdly... For some reason FF cut it off, so just read this chapter like you're still on the last chapter, I guess... Thanks to Yuyui Hime for pointing it out!

She threw her cup in the trash and took one last bite of cake before leaving. She could hear Natsu's motorcycle as it drove away, and she waved, a slight blush creeping up on her cheeks.

Her phone buzzed, indicating a new text. She sighed and turned it on, seeing Levy's profile picture(Her and Lucy on the Ferris Wheel) next to the words, "Sooo how'd it go, Lu? Did you kiss kiss fall in love yet?"

Lucy choked on the cake that was still in her mouth. She swallowed quickly before replying.

"Shut it, Levy! We are not in love!" She typed as she opened her car door. She sat down and waited for a reply.

"Ooh, you so are!" Levy replied. Lucy growled, but her face was bright red.

"Shut it. Gtg ttyl." She typed, powering off her phone before she could see Levy's reply.

'Calm down, Lucy, don't let her into your head. You're not in love! He just... Wanted to see you in the least romantic way possible!' She told herself silently as she turned on her car.

The drive home was spent bickering with herself. She ended up with a bright red face and a very confused mind.

She sighed and stretched before she got out of her car. "OK, Lucy, it's all over now. Just go in there and go to sleep." She commanded herself as she stood up and slammed the car door shut. She pulled her keys out of her purse and walked to the door.

She swung the door open, and her eyes were met with the hallway lights blazing. She blinked in confusion. "Didn't I turn those off?" She asked herself quietly, already digging in her purse for her pepper spray.

She cautiously turned the corner into the living room. The TV was on, and on her couch sat...

"Natsu?" Lucy shrieked, dropping her pepper spray. Natsu looked up and waved, smiling.

"Hey, Luce! Your window was open, so I decided to come in." He said conversationally, as if sneaking into someone's home was normal.

Happy, who was in Natsu's lap, mewed softly. Natsu blinked and looked down. "Oh yeah! Happy wanted to see you!" He held up the blue cat, and Lucy glared.

"That's why you broke into my house?" She cried, but she took Happy nonetheless. Happy purred contentedly.

"Technically you left the window open, so it's your fault." He pointed out, pausing the TV. Lucy growled.

"No it's not! You didn't have to climb into the window!" She shrieked. Natsu crossed his arms.

"But Happy wanted to see you." He pouted. Lucy sighed.

"OK... You know what? Fine. Stay for all I care!" She yelled. "But I'm keeping Happy!" She ran out of the room with the cat still sleeping in her arms. She could hear the TV turn off and the sound of Natsu standing up. Lucy looked at Happy.

"You're lucky you're so cute, cat, or I'd kick you both outta my house." He said to him. Happy just purred some more.

Lucy turned into the kitchen and sat down, and Natsu followed a few minutes later.

"Hey, a kitchen!" He grinned. "Are you gonna cook us dinner?" He looked at Lucy with a pleading look in his onyx eyes. Lucy sighed.

"No way!" She glared. "You snuck into my house! I'm not giving you food for it!" She yelled... At an empty space. She turned around, and saw Natsu, rifling through her fridge. She sighed and rolled her eyes.

"You know what? Fine. But you're cooking." She turned away from him. Natsu chuckled nervously.

"Um..." He mumbled. "I can't cook."

"What?" Lucy looked at Natsu, who was suddenly very quiet.

"I can't. I dunno how." He looked at her. "You've gotta cook instead, cause if you don't I might burn your house down."

Lucy took a deep breath and counted to ten. "Fine! What do you want me to cook, Master? Hamburgers? Fish?"

Happy looked and a meowed excitedly. Lucy looked at him. "Fish?" She said again. Happy meowed again. Natsu chuckled.

"He loves fish." He said. Lucy nodded.

"Alright then. Fish it is!" Lucy said, internally promising to kick them out as soon as dinner was done.

That promise was broken, though, when Natsu fell asleep with Happy on his stomach after they finished eating.

Lucy smiled. "When they're not being crazy, they're actually pretty cute." She said softly, leaning over them. Natsu mumbled something. "Huh?"

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" He mumbled, his hand forming a fist and then shooting up, just missing Lucy's head. Lucy growled.

"I spoke too soon." She turned and walked away. As she climbed into bed, she realized how crazy she had become. She was letting an almost complete stranger sleep in her house! Her father wouldn't like that very much.

She smiled. Good. Her last thought before sleep overtook her was, 'Sleep well, Natsu.'

In the morning when Lucy went down for breakfast, Natsu wasn't there. The couch he had fallen asleep on was empty, and the small blanket she had put over them was folded neatly. A note sat on top, scribbled in pink, messy, childish handwriting that showed that he didn't write very much.

"Thanks for letting us crash here, Luce! You're a great cook! I might have to hire you!" The note said. Underneath the message, his signature was scribbled in pink. "P.S. Why do you only have pink pens?"

Lucy smiled to herself, her cheeks turning pink. She took the note and put it in her purse, and then went to the kitchen to make breakfast.

When she went in there, though, a scream tore out of her throat in horror. It was an absolute mess, with burn marks all over the oven and eggs smashed all over the floor. On the table, a plate of burned toast and messy, wet eggs sat, still steaming slightly. Lucy sighed.

"He wasn't lying when he said he couldn't cook." She said softly, sitting down and poking at the eggs apprehensively. They jiggled like he had put Jell-O mix in them. Lucy stifled a gag and tossed the eggs down the drain as she bit into the rock hard toast.

She managed to find a few non-cracked eggs in the mess and made some new scrambled eggs, which she ate quickly before heading off to work.

Her car pulled up in front of the Soccer Weekly building. It was a tall building, with the logo on the front and offices lining the inside.

Lucy stepped inside and nodded to the receptionist, Mirajane, who was also the top model for the swimsuit editions. Even in a business suit, with a pencil sticking out from behind her left ear and barely any makeup on her face, she practically glowed with beauty. Her white hair was kept up in a pony tail which poofed out behind her and trailed down the back of her suit.

"Good morning, Lucy!" Mira said kindly. Lucy couldn't help but smile.

"Morning, Mira!" She said back as she walked past the desk.

"Wait, Lucy! Jason said he wants to see you!" Mira called to Lucy. Lucy turned around and flashed Mirajane a grin.

"Thanks, Mira!" She said as she walked into the elevator. It was relatively empty, save the intern, Wendy Marvell.

Wendy was a small girl at the age of 13. She had long bright blue hair that fell down her face and ended around her waist. Her eyes shined with kindness.

"Hi, Lucy-san!" She smiled at Lucy. Lucy smiled back.

"Good morning, Wendy! I didn't know you came in this early." Wendy shrugged.

"I decided to come in early today, because Jason-san said when I turned fourteen I might get a promotion." She said. Lucy nodded.

"You're almost fourteen, right?" She asked. Wendy nodded, smiling happily.

"Yep! A few more months!" The doors opened with a ding. "This is my floor. See you later, Lucy-san!" She waved as she stepped out of the elevator.

Lucy waited patiently for her floor. When it came, she stepped out and walked quickly to her boss's office.

She knocked on the door softly. "You wanted to see me?" She asked as she stepped inside. Jason grinned.

"Oh, Lucy, it's so cooooooool!" He cried, his glasses almost falling off of his head. "I had no idea you had such a cooool boyfriend!"

Lucy's eyes widened. "Huh?"

"I was walking around your cooool neighborhood when I saw that cooool Natsu walk up to your house!" Jason fan-boyed. Lucy blushed.

"H-He's n-not my b-boyfriend! Don't jump to conclusions!" She cried. "He snuck into my house! It's not my fault he a crazy person!"

"Oh... I guess that was a coool mistake..." He mumbled. Lucy sighed.

"It's fine, sir. Is there anything else you wanted?" She asked. Jason nodded.

"I need you to interview Igneel for a new article we're doing." Lucy blinked.

"I'm an editor, sir, not a reporter." She pointed out. Jason nodded.

"I know that! Our lead reporter is taking a vacation so we need you to do it."

"Is this a promotion?" Lucy asked. Jason nodded.

"Yes! Only temporary, though. Isn't it cooool?" He asked. Lucy grinned.

"Thank you, sir! I won't let you down!" She promised as she walked out of the room. Once inside of her office, she jumped a few times for joy.

Her office was a neat little room in the corner of the building. It had a large window on one side, and three walls covered in pictures and newspaper clippings. A desk sat on one end, with a plushy rolling chair behind it and a computer on top. A beanbag chair sat in the corner, along with a bin of extra phone and laptop chargers so she'd never run out.

She sat down in her chair and flipped on her computer, her face glowing with happiness.

"Lucy," She told herself. "this is the greatest day of your life!"

A/N- Hey... So I'm not gonna do these A/N things every chapter. It sort of clutters the chapter, and I know no one reads them anyway.

Also, it was supposed to end there. I'm...not very good at endings. I hope the chapter turned out OK, though! I tried to keep it as close to canon as possible without losing the AU part of it.

Anyway, thanks for reading!


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